The Swansea City squad is in La Finca, Algorfa on the white coast of Spain this week which is a pre season camp for the entire squad. Newcastle United Under 21’s were at the resort last summer and played Elche FC within the superb facilities on offer.
When the Swans leave their camp Elche FC will be back again in a facility which is fast becoming a rival to the more established venues on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. In 2021 AC Milan were there, and it’s a favourite of the Scotland international set up as well.
The resort supplies everything a professional football club desires during their stay. And there’s some fantastic golf courses as well. The scenery is superb, the resort is set within wonderful pine forests. Let’s be honest the Swans won’t be running for every minute of every day. As Tom Barnden ( below ) head of performance stated on day one, "The biggest thing for me is to put them through some tests that will first and foremost guide us on how they are - physically and mentally then to shape some of the individualised programmes that we will give the players. We put the players through a battery of different tests over the course of the day; standard strength tests, running tests, medical tests."
Michael Duff is renowned for driving his players hard to receive optimum fitness levels. Of course with specialised staff backing him up it won’t be a case of tiring the players out before the season gets underway. "It's essentially a test of endurance," Barnden explained. "It allows us to calculate their maximal aerobic speed. They run a set distance for a given length of time, which essentially allows us to see how far they can run. From there we can calculate their individual MAS scores. Then when we condition the players in pre-season, we can prescribe their thresholds and individual limits, which helps guide our practice."
There is also the mental side of the player to examine, how they feel about themselves as professional footballers and the impact of the ever changing environments they find themselves in. All clubs now have cognitive reflective practice sessions and experienced advocates to help players through their own individual areas affectively. A more informed and happier player means better performances on and off the pitch.
It’s not all work at La Finca resort
Head coach Michael Duff also see’s this week as of benefit to him and the players in sessions whereby they will get to know each other better. "From my point of view, heading to Spain will be that opportunity to get eyes on the players and find out everything about them,” he said. "To see how they cope with physicality, how they cope with pressure, how they cope with stress. Then it’s about seeing them around the place and getting to know them as people because that’s the most important thing. The work in Spain will be about fitness. It’s not about dropping in tactical information or anything like that because the squad is thinner than it will be come the start of the season. It’s about getting fitness levels up and meeting the players as much as anything.”
It’s a new era at Swansea City with Julian Winter departed as well as Russell Martin and four of his backroom staff we see new beginnings at the Swans, and we will be with them every step of the way on the Indy.